


forfeit your rights to my heart (i hope that you burn)

by AceMoppet



Series: burn out and turn over a new leaf [4]
Category: Much Ado About Nothing (2011), Much Ado About Nothing - Shakespeare
Genre: Angry Ending I suppose you could say, Angst, Gen, Hero goes off on Claudio, It’s not happy, It’s the ending we deserve, Resolute Ending, and come on down to watch Claudio get dragged like the little fuckre he is, and it’s fucking cathartic, been waiting for this moment for ages my dudes, get your popcorn, get your soda, it’s not sad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-15
Updated: 2019-08-15
Packaged: 2020-09-02 22:03:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,603
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20252965
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AceMoppet/pseuds/AceMoppet
Summary: “Claudio,” Hero says, solemn as the grave. “We need to talk.”Or, Hero finally confronts Claudio





	forfeit your rights to my heart (i hope that you burn)

**Author's Note:**

> Hey hey hey! First off, I'm so glad people have been liking this series; I didn't really expect people to read it, much less like it, so consider me pleasantly surprised!
> 
> This one gave me a bit of trouble at first; I wanted to make it perfect because it's basically the first turnpoint of the series. This is the version I'm proudest of, and so this is the version I'm putting out. It was so much fun to do, especially when I tapped into Hero's anger, hurt, and pride.
> 
> In other news, I've just started college! Which means less updating frequently, but since I love this concept, I'm fairly certain I'm going to be carrying out the rest of this through. 
> 
> And now, goodfolk, I leave you to the moment you've been waiting for...

Life does not stop at the happy endings.

Everyone always assumes the story ends with a happy husband and a happy wife, taking their bow and heading offstage to build their happy life behind the curtain, away from the happy audience with their happy clapping.

_ Happy. _ Hero’s heard so much of the word over the past two weeks since her wedding that the word has long since lost meaning; it’s started to turn rotten in her ears, started to fester like a pus-filled wound in her mind.

Luckily, Claudio hasn’t tried to sleep with her since the wedding night where he’d slipped into an alcohol-soaked slumber, courtesy of Benedick. After that night, Hero had somehow convinced him that they had coupled, though he’d forgotten with the alcohol in his system, and they’d moved on from there.

For the next two weeks, both Claudio and Hero had been pulled this way and that, with Claudio being repeatedly invited out by his fellow soldiers and Hero being increasingly visited by the ladies of Messina. It’s busy, but it’s good, for it means that every night Hero and Claudio fall into bed exhausted, too exhausted to carry out their… marital duties.

Not tonight, though.

They’ve finally gotten a break from all the hullabaloo, and to make matters worse, Claudio’s day off is tomorrow. Which means…

Hero looks over at the white bed, bedsheets all smoothed down, and shakes her head. _ No, _ she thinks, stomach turning at the thought of Claudio touching her, _ there has to be another way. _

Loud voices echo up from downstairs, accompanied by laughter and greetings that turn Hero’s stomach to stone. Claudio is home.

“Where’s my wife?” she hears him, and, unbidden, her legs take her out of the bedroom and into the hallway overlooking the entrance.

“Here, my Lord,” she calls, hands tightening around the banister when Claudio turns to her, beaming.

“Sweet Lady!” he exclaims, leaning against the staircase, a rakish grin on his face. “Did you miss me?”

Hero smiles, but it feels more like she’s baring her teeth in defense. “As much as you could be missed, my Lord.”

“Ah!” Claudio sighs, hand coming up to grasp at his heart. “Your ardent declaration has killed me, Lady!”

_ Would that it had, _ Hero thinks viciously, before recoiling at the vitriol in her thoughts. Below her, the maids giggle at Claudio’s antics, and he smiles wider.

“Have you had supper yet, my Lord?” she asks, trying to direct her thoughts away.

“Aye,” he says, straightening up, though the smile still rests on his face. “The lads treated me to a nice spread today.”

“Good,” Hero says before turning to one of the maids. “Draw the Count a bath please and prepare a fresh change of clothes.”

“Yes, Countess!” The maid bows then scurries off, her friends following her to give Claudio and Hero some privacy.

“My love,” Claudio calls, “Will you not come down?”

Hero swallows, vestiges of love mixing in with the betrayal that’s been running thick through her veins like syrup over the past two weeks. “Claudio,” she says, solemn as the grave. “We need to talk.”

Finally his smile dies. “Hero?” he asks, brows furrowed in confusion. “Is everything alright?”

Hero swallows again. “Take your bath,” she says, willing her voice not to shake, “then come meet me upstairs. I need to talk to you.”

Claudio blinks before smiling again. “Alright love,” he says, smile turning into a smirk. “I’ll be up soon.”

Hero watches until Claudio makes it out of sight before she finally relaxes. Slowly, she takes her hands off the banister and stares dully at the red imprints left behind from the carvings.

_ Tonight, _ she thinks, closing her fists. _ It will happen tonight. _

* * *

Hero is sitting in the armchair beside the bed when Claudio walks in, shirtless and dripping from the shower.

“Well, my Lady,” he says, smirking as Hero struggles to breathe, taken aback by Claudio’s boldness. “You said you wanted to talk?”

“M-My Lord!” Hero exclaims, jumping to her feet. “What is the meaning of this?”

Claudio blinks. “You said you wanted to talk?” he says again, but more unsure this time. “Does- was I wrong?”

“I did want to talk!” Hero huffs, closing her eyes. “I don’t know how you came to… whatever conclusion you came to, my Lord, but I wanted to talk to you. So if you could please put on a shirt...”

“...Alright then.” Without even bothering to dry himself, Claudio rummages through the closet, picks out the first shirt he finds, and puts it on. Thankfully, it’s black as night; Hero doesn’t think she’d be able to think if it had been white.

“So,” Claudio says, unable to meet her gaze. “What um, what _ did _you want to talk about?”

_ Here goes. _Hero takes a deep breath.

“I don’t believe we should consummate our marriage.”

There’s a beat of silence. Then…

“What?” Claudio splutters, face reddening. “What do you- I thought we had already consummated it!”

“Nay, my Lord,” Hero says, swallowing back her fear. This, and much more, may arise Claudio’s anger. As silently as she can, she reaches behind her to grasp her hand mirror, ready to shatter it on his head should he prove violent again. “You were too inebriated that night, and thus slept it away.”

Claudio looks at her, shock and anger widening his eyes. “You… _ lied? _ To _ me, _your husband?”

“Aye, my Lord,” Hero says, tipping her chin up defiantly to hide the way she trembles. “I had reason to do so.”

“What reason?” Claudio spits out. He stalks over to her and Hero grips the mirror tighter. “Is it because you were infidel to me-”

“Stop!” Hero cries, shoving the mirror in front of her. Claudio does stop, and his eyes fall on the mirror.

“What is this?” he asks, confusion freezing his anger. “A mirror? What for?”

_ For protection, _Hero thinks, but swallows down. “This is why I wish not to consummate the marriage,” Hero says, voice trembling on the last word. “Because you see me as your possession in the best of times and as your enemy in the worst of times.”

Claudio steps backward, shaking his head. _ Oh no you don’t, _ Hero thinks, surging forward, mirror still held against Claudio, _ you won’t escape from your actions this time! _

“A marriage is between two partners who trust each other.” Claudio steps backward once more, but Hero steps in time, crowding him once again. “Tell me, my Lord, do you trust me?”

“Not for the wide world!” Claudio gasps. “How can I, when you threaten me so?”

“I? Threaten you?” Hero raises an eyebrow. “I raise no blade against you, and would I tell the public that I had not lain with you, they would laugh me out of house and home and call me a desperate liar.”

Claudio opens his mouth to protest, but Hero swipes her mirror, cutting him off. “Nay, my Lord, you _ will _ listen to me. You did not listen when I was protesting my innocence; you will listen _ now.” _

Claudio looks at her mirror and then at her. He nods, tiny, as if he’s even now reconsidering his agreement.

“Good,” Hero says, trying not to shake with her relief. “Then hear me well, my Lord, for I will not say this more than once: we are married in the eyes of society, but ‘til the day arrives that you trust me, and regain my trust in return, we shall not be married inside the walls of our bedroom.”

_ And inside the walls of my heart, _ Hero privately thinks, but suppresses. Somehow, she doesn’t believe that Claudio cares for something as soft as a heart. The Claudio she thought she knew might have, and the Claudio in front of her definitely cares about _ a _heart, but it is not her own, and he values his perceived honor much more besides.

“This goes against all notion of marriage,” Claudio says, dumbfounded. “Woman, you defy society!”

“Society does not follow us to bed at night,” Hero counters. “Nor do they peek into our windows to see us complete the rites.”

Claudio still stands there, mouth agape and dumb-faced. Hero feels twin pinpricks of disgust and sympathy warring with her heart, and she shakes her head, suddenly tired. “You will never enter my bed, so long as my conditions are not met, but that does not mean you cannot enter any bed. Take your mistresses; I care not for you.”

Claudio swallows. “Does that mean you will…”

“Oh for Heaven’s sake!” Hero snaps. “No, I will not be infidel! How many times must I answer this question for the answer to be planted into your head? The answer is ‘no’, and will always be ‘no’!”

With that, Hero starts to walk out of the room. Tonight, she intends on sleeping in a guest room, and tomorrow, she’ll tell the maids to set up her own room as far away from this bedroom as can be manageable-

“Wait!”

Hero stops and turns. Claudio looks at her, a question clearly burning on his tongue. “Yes?”

“You said I had to ‘regain your trust’,” Claudio says slowly, as if he can’t understand the words coming off his tongue. “What did you mean? When did I lose your trust?”

Hero’s fury, so far at a simmering pace in her blood, leaps to a raging boil.

“You are a "decorated" soldier, _ husband,” _ she spits out, watching him curl away from the flames in her words. _ Good, _she thinks, opening the door and stepping outside. “Figure it out.”

She slams the door behind her.

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave a comment or a kudos if you liked it!


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